The invention relates to a method for grouping in particular empty oblong products in the form of cans, tubes or cartridges, the preferably cylindrical products being delivered by a delivering conveyor, preferably from a production line for producing the products, and placed on a conveyor belt (transport belt) and conveyed by it at a conveying speed along a conveying section in a conveying direction, a group of products comprising several of the products being simultaneously transferred from the conveyor belt into receiving means, such as a pin plate, or immediately into an outer packaging by transfer means, said transfer means being displaced toward the receiving means in a transfer direction at an angle, in particular perpendicular to the conveying direction so as to transfer the products while moving with the group of products in the conveying direction, and the receiving means being displaced perpendicular to the conveying direction and perpendicular to the transfer direction (i.e. preferably along a vertical axis) after each transfer of a group of products or after the transfer of multiple groups of products so as to be able to receive or receive the next group of products above or below the groups of products already transferred.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a grouping device for grouping products in the form of cans, tubes or cartridges, the grouping device being configured to carry out the method according to the invention. The device comprises a delivering conveyor for the aforementioned products, a circulating conveyor belt (circulating transport belt) for conveying the products along a conveying section in a conveying direction, transfer means for transferring a group of products from the conveyor belt into receiving means, drive means, and control means for controlling the drive means. The drive means are drive means for driving the conveyor at a conveying speed and for driving the transfer means and the receiving means, preferably comprising multiple drives, such as at least one electric motor, preferably a servomotor and/or at least one pneumatic drive and/or at least one hydraulic drive. It is conceivable for at least two of the functional units to be driven (conveyor belt, receiving means and transfer means) to be driven by a shared drive. If required, the control means also control a drive for driving the delivering conveyor.
Moreover, the invention comprises a system which is a production installation in this case, comprising a grouping device according to the invention and a production device for producing the products to be grouped, which supplies the delivering conveyor with the products to be grouped.
Grouping devices for grouping typically substantially cylindrical product units, such as empty cans, tubes or cartridges, are known in various designs. The product category of cartridges refers to substantially cylindrical containers, such as for silicone or acrylic, which are provided with a cartridge bottom that can be slid into a sleeve in order to be able to push out the content of the cartridge (using a so-called gun, in particular a silicone gun) through an outlet located axially opposite the bottom. The empty products typically come from a production device on which they are produced, and the object is to gather, in particular package, the products in relatively large units and to transport them to filling plants. In order to assembling these units, the products are typically grouped, wherein, in the simplest case, a grouped group of products constitutes an aforementioned unit; typically, several groups of products of this kind are gathered in an aforementioned unit.
From FR-A-2 391 126, for example, a device for grouping continuously delivered products coming from a production line or production device is known. The products are grouped using the known device, in which two conveying units that work in a manner trailing each other are controlled in such a manner that one of the conveying units is fed while the other one is moved to a discharging station, where it is emptied. The structure is relatively complex and the amount of space required is large. Moreover, the working speed (cycle rate) very limited.
A grouping device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,606 works in a similar manner. Contrary to the device described above, the transfer to a conveying and grouping unit is continuous and happens in one place only. The known device can operate at a significantly higher cycle rate than the device described in FR-A-2 391 126; however, the work required to retool the device when the diameter of the products changes is disadvantageous. This point of criticism also applies to the device known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,195.
A significantly improved grouping device is described in EP 1 114 784 B1, in which the products are not directly placed on a conveyor belt from a suspended-vessel belt. A flexible belt section for temporary placement of the products is located between the suspended-vessel belt and the conveyor belt, the flexible belt section, the discharging conveyor belt and the delivering suspended-vessel belt having a shared transfer section. After placement of a settable number of products to be gathered in a group on the flexible belt, the flexible belt is moved backward, whereby the products are transferred to the conveyor belt. During the transfer of the group of products from the conveyor belt to the receiving means, the conveyor belt is standing still and the group of products is shifted into the receiving means perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor belt by a purely translational movement of the transfer means, which comprise a pusher. After placement of the products, the flexible belt is moved back into a starting position at high speed, during which it has to overtake the delivering suspended-vessel belt and the conveyor belt. This may lead to unsmooth transport due to high positive and negative acceleration when large product diameters coincide with a high cycle rate of the delivering suspended-vessel belt.
From WO 2012/121762 A1, which does not pertain to this field, a method for transferring bottles into cardboard boxes is known, the cardboard boxes being provided on a conveyor belt which conveys the filled cardboard boxes in a straight line. The bottles can be transferred from a conveying belt of a conveyor into the cardboard boxes perpendicular to the conveying direction by means of a pusher.
From EP 2 960 189 A1, a device and a method for packaging tubes is known, wherein with the aid of pushers that are stationary with respect to a conveying direction of a conveyor belt, tube bodies are first pushed onto two distributing-plate halves of a distributing plate, which then are moved relative to each other, whereupon the tube bodies are shifted further onto height-adjustable grouping plates by means of stationary pushers.
From DE 10 2004 026 612 A1, a device for forming stacks from packaged goods and for transferring the packaged goods into a packaged-goods transporting system is known, which does not pertain to this field.